Hey Barry, on a different note, what's up with Donny and TO? I saw them on sports news when I was eating dinner (in the only place down here that approximates a Philly pizzeria), but didn't understand the controversy. Philly needs to get back in the big game again this year and kick butt!

Darryl,
It's been a bit of a headache for the Eagles, hasn't it. T.O. is an absolute child. Giving the entire team the silent treatment is just too much. I'm waiting for him to play copycat and start repeating everything an interviewer asks him.

There wasn't anything on body armor in the movie. They didn't show him going into any caves, so I can't say whether he actually did. I would guess not though; at least not while there were bears in it.
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I hesitated to say so outright, but TO is immature. My brother (in Philly) had such high hopes last season, but when he was so elated at TO's ability, I could only recall how idiotic and childish TO was down here, when had previously demonstrated on the (sacred ) star mid-field in Texas Stadium during a playoff game after he scored. Still, no question he has outstanding athletic ability as a receiver (with regrets a Dallas safety hit took him out of most of the playoffs).

We still like Donny (McNabb) don't we?

PS We've given TO too much press (I recall that babe [Nicolette Sheridan] from Desperate Housewives that wanted to have sex with him in the lockerroom before the big Monday night game).

Last edited by Darryl on Mon Aug 15, 2005 10:41 pm; edited 1 time in total

I was admittedly disappointed with McNabb in the Super Bowl. He goes through some slumps where he isn't very accurate with his throws. But on the whole, as a leader and an overall player, he's still one of the best four or five QBs in the game, so I'm happy to have him.

"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee." - Abraham Lincoln

"Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed." - Winston Churchill

"Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement." - Ronald Reagan

Darryl wrote:To my shame, I really can't say Barry. I tune most of out until the last pre-season games.

Funny. I'm similar to you in that respect. It's just been impossible to ignore the Eagles this year because of the T.O. fiasco.

As much as I love sports, I generally just like to watch the games. I don't spend a lot of time reading or watching analysis from so-called experts and also have very little interest in exhibition games (for any sport; not just football).

"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee." - Abraham Lincoln

"Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed." - Winston Churchill

"Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement." - Ronald Reagan

NFL fans want to know: Why is Terrell Owens such a jerk? A better question might be: Why are so many talented wide receivers such jerks?
Granted, T.O.'s tomfoolery is starting to reach championship levels. First he wore out his welcome with his original team, the San Francisco 49ers, after years of grandstanding and clashes with coaches and teammates. Then, last year, he engineered a trade to the Philadelphia Eagles, because, as he explained to one and all, he looked forward to hooking up with their star quarterback, Donovan McNabb.

During the 2004 season, Mr. Owens lived up to his hype, snagging 77 balls for 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns. He even made a fast comeback against doctors' orders from a serious leg injury to play well in the Super Bowl.

Then he had to go and spoil everything by demanding that the Eagles renegotiate his seven-year, $49 million contract--a deal he happily signed last year and that still has six years to run. He threatened to skip training camp unless his demands were met. After the Eagles held firm, he showed up anyway, but he made such a pest of himself--he allegedly told the offensive coordinator not to speak to him unless he spoke first--that coach Andy Reid sent him packing for a week. To add insult to injury, Mr. Owens has publicly badmouthed the stalwart Mr. McNabb; the two are no longer on speaking terms.

You might think that T.O.'s conduct puts him beyond the pale--and it does--but he has some company in the All-Star Clowns Hall of Fame. I have in mind Randy Moss and Keyshawn Johnson, two other supremely talented and perfectly unbearable pass-catchers.
Mr. Moss, like Mr. Owens, wore out his welcome at his original team with his self-aggrandizing antics. (At the end of last season, he pretended to pull down his britches for the benefit of Green Bay fans.) He became known for giving all-out effort only some of the time; "I play when I want to play," he infamously admitted. And then in 2002 he went and practically ran over a traffic cop in his Lexus sedan. This year the Minnesota Vikings traded him to the Oakland Raiders, who are known for embracing malcontents.

Keyshawn Johnson has followed a drearily similar path. After his rookie season with the New York Jets, he wrote (or, more accurately, cooperated in the writing of) a memoir titled "Just Give Me the Damn Ball," which aptly summarizes his solipsistic philosophy. He won a Super Bowl in 2003 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the following season was marked by declining production and sideline clashes with his coach, Jon Gruden. The Bucs suspended him midway through the year and then dealt him to the Dallas Cowboys, coached by Bill Parcells, Mr. Johnson's original NFL mentor and the only man who seems able to cope with him.

I do not mean to suggest that these wide receivers are uniquely deserving of obloquy. In a league so full of egomaniacs, cheap-shot artists and out-and-out criminals, the escapades of a Terrell Owens, Randy Moss or Keyshawn Johnson might not seem so bad. Hey, at least they haven't smashed a teammate's face (as linebacker Bill Romanowski did) or been convicted of drug dealing (as running back Jamal Lewis was).

These wide-outs nevertheless stand out because in a team sport they are supreme and unapologetic egotists. Other players may traduce society's norms, but few are willing to so brazenly violate the Law of the League: "There is no 'I' in team." These divas make no attempt to conceal their self-absorption; they flaunt it.

Their inability to play well with others may be related to the position they occupy. Wide receivers are far removed--literally--from the rest of the team: They line up close to the sidelines. While the other players battle in the trenches, the wide-outs do their own thing, dashing around the field accompanied only by a defensive back or two. They aren't part of the action unless they get thrown the ball, so many of them spend an inordinate amount of time lobbying their own coaches and quarterbacks to get the pigskin into their paws. In short, they have a built-in incentive to be loudmouths. And whereas other players know they'll be ruthlessly punished by the opposing team for acting up, wide-outs can usually stay safe by running out of bounds or flopping to the turf prior to a hit.
This set of incentives can create players who make the average Hollywood star seem humble and down-to-earth by comparison. But not always. There are numerous honorable exceptions to these generalizations--none more notable than the redoubtable Jerry Rice. The man who holds all the major receiving records is known not for nuttiness but for durability and dedication. He's still at it: At age 42 he's still trying to play in the NFL even if it means being a fourth-stringer for the Denver Broncos. It is no coincidence that the soft-spoken former 49er sports three Super Bowl rings while the loud-mouthed combination of Messrs. Owens, Moss and Johnson has a grand total of one. If any member of this trio wants to ascend to the real Hall of Fame--and each has the talent to do so--he needs a healthy helping of Rice.

And obviously, they aren't all jerks. I'm sure lots of them are nice guys. But way too many act like obnoxious pricks.

My view is that pro athletes should be kissing the fans' butts because we are the ones who pay for them to play a game for millions of dollars. I want fo vomit when I hear about one of these guys charging for or refusing an autograph or just blowing off fans (unless they are approached at inappropriate times, like when they're in the middle of dining with their family).

I also feel like jumping through the screen and hitting someone every time I see a baseball player fail to run as hard as he can on the base paths. I hated Barry Bonds for consistantly doing that long before steroids became an issue.

"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee." - Abraham Lincoln

"Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed." - Winston Churchill

"Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement." - Ronald Reagan